bM expert: HOW TO CHOOSE & CARE FOR YOUR CANDLES

AS YOU KNOW, WE LOVE CANDLES

so when we had the opportunity to chat with Evelyn Carsten’s from Christel & Eve Candles, we wanted to ask her a few ‘candle-care’ questions…

what are the best type of candles to look for for?

The best candle waxes are the natural ones. Bees wax is sometimes used and the down side is the only fragrance is honey, plus it is a bit more expensive. Soy wax seems to be the wax of choice because its natural, biodegradable and most importantly its non toxic. You can use many of the hundreds of fragrances {or colours} around to give your candle a favourite look/smell. Also Soy candles are relatively cost effective in comparison to say paraffin wax {made from petroleum} which is the cheapest.

what’s the difference between waxes?

There are a lot of waxes on the market, some are mixed like cream & gel wax {which has paraffin in it}. I also mentioned bees wax which has the one colour and smell and is great if you just want to burn a candle. There is also Palm wax which is natural, it sometimes gets added to soy to make the candle a little harder. The bottom line is candle makers use the easiest wax to work with, so it’s a matter of personal choice which one you go for. For me, I like using soy, it’s easy to work with and its non toxic, plus it’s what most people who appreciate nice candles go for.

should we be looking our for wooden wicks?

Wooden wicks are great if you like the sound of quiet cracking. It is purely aesthetic as most wicks are made from natural materials. Wooden wicks provide a more even burn to the candle and they don’t need trimming {unlike the cotton variety} and they don’t produce the sooty marks that cotton wicks do if you don’t trim them. Also candles with wooden wicks are not as highly scented as they burn at slightly higher temperatures. I use both in my candles.

what are your candle-care tips?

The candle care tips are at the bottom of each candle. Unfortunately most people don’t read them then they would know that:

* When you first burn a candle you MUST burn it for at least 2-3 hours or until the wax has reached the perimeter of the candle jar. Wax has a memory and if you burn your candle for a short time it will remember the size of the wax pool and from there on thats where it will burn to – you will be left with hard edges that will almost never burn. Therefore to prevent the “tunnelling” its very important to burn the candle properly at the start and NOT to trim the wick before the first burn. Generally speaking, candles should not be burned for more than 4 hours a time

* Always trim the wick after you have burned your candle. This will stop black smoke from forming and also giving a candle that “sooty” look. It also promotes a more even burn and a steady flame. Wicks should be trimmed to about 6mm and never leave a candle near anything flammable {obvious to most people} and if you keep doing this you will also prolong the life or your candle. You can buy a wick trimmer {which I sell} or you can use a pair of scissors or nail trimmer.

* Extinguish candles with a snuffer or dip the wick into the melted wax – this prevents smoking and also stops the wax from spluttering when you blow it out.

how did Christel & Eve come about?

Christel and Eve came about last year when my daughter bought me a candle making kit for Mothers Day. I’ve always like candles and thought it would be fun making them myself. I haven’t stopped since. I just love making them and experimenting with fragrances. I take a lot of pride in my work and only use the most expensive materials as my reputation is on the line. Its a pleasure for me to make a candle for someone and I really hope they enjoy the candle as much as I enjoyed making it. As you know, I have a whole range of containers – about 10 in total and I do refills, personalised candles and also made to order. I can also cater for events.

what’s your favourite fragrance for candles?

As for my favourite fragrance, thats a hard one – I have around 350 to chose from and have a range of about 20, including Champagne & Strawberry which is extremely popular, Chanel No 5, Lime Basil and Mandarin (which is one of my favourites), Cashmere Vanilla, Gardenia, Sweet Lemongrass, Kakadu Plum and Green Bamboo and Fig (another of my favourites) to mention a few. ALL my candles are triple scented which means I put in the maximum amount of fragrance, no shortcuts here.

how do you get our hands on your Christel & Eve candles?

You can order your candles from my Facebook page, Christel & Eve
{I chose this name as I often get called Eve and Christel is my middle name. Hence I use crystal or cut glass containers.} Most people – friends usually, just contact me via email as I always have a stock pile.